PS3 Owner Refunded (Without Return) for Missing Other OS

[DaMulta]

April 8th, 2010 at 9:38 am -

Retailer Amazon has offered a partial refund to a European PS3 owner following his complaint about the removal of the console’s ‘Other OS’ feature. Firmware 3.21 infamously removed the ability to install other Operating Systems (such as Yellow Dog Linux) on the PlayStation 3. Though the feature was widely unused by the majority of PS3 gamers, many were angered by Sony’s audacity to remotely disable an original PS3 feature. One gamer has come up trumps, citing European law to earn a partial refund.

We are writing to confirm that we have processed your refund in the amount of £84.00 for your Order 666-5327564-4432412.

Item Refund: £71.49
Item Tax Refund: £12.51

This refund is for the following item(s):

Item: Sony PlayStation 3 Console (60GB Premium Version)
Quantity: 1
ASIN: B0007SV734
Reason for refund: Account adjustment

The following is the breakdown of your refund for this item

more
http://www.playstationuniversity.com/ps3-owner-refunded-without-return-for-missing-other-os-3555/

 

[Solaris17]

nice go EU

 

[Ripper3]

And people say the EU is useless! Now, if they force partial refunds for everyone, that'd be the next step.

 

[Solaris17]

And people say the EU is useless! Now, if they force partial refunds for everyone, that'd be the next step.

yup most of the time I just think you guys are good for wool sweaters and various terrier breeds. Because im all about cliches. However this is good. Retailers will get tired of it. Maybe they will complain to sony for loosing so much money and it will pressure them.

 

[kid41212003]

Amazon did this in purpose, they want free ads.

 

[DaMulta]

That's a damn good refund if you ask me. More than I expected to be given back for the otheros.

 

[Ripper3]

Pressure them to add back on a feature that's been hacked back on by Geohot, which to be frank (Hi, I'm Frank!), the people needing the Other OS feature, will most likely know how to install such a custom firmware.
@kid: I kinda think that's the case, but there's also the fact that if they get asked for it by everyone, then they'll either have to refund everyone that's complained, or else have to find a cut-off point, and this will just make things worse for them.

 

[Solaris17]

Pressure them to add back on a feature that's been hacked back on by Geohot, which to be frank (Hi, I'm Frank!), the people needing the Other OS feature, will most likely know how to install such a custom firmware.
@kid: I kinda think that's the case, but there's also the fact that if they get asked for it by everyone, then they'll either have to refund everyone that's complained, or else have to find a cut-off point, and this will just make things worse for them.

I dont think they will add it back. However if this generates alot of bad press it may prevent wtf situations in the future.

 

[newtekie1]

Wow, something that actually makes sense from the EU law...this might be a first.

 

[Ripper3]

Honestly, EU gets a bad rap, most people focus on the bad things, but then again, the bad stuff normally outweighs the good, so I guess it makes sense that it happens.
@Solaris: I guess you're right, doubtful they'll add it back on, but it does make sense that this may stop Sony doing something so stupid again.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Thats a great pr stunt by amazon,they are gonna get loads of free advertising and praise for this.The £84 was nothing to what its worth in pr.

 

[Phxprovost]

wheres my refund?

 

[KainXS]

makes sense, a company like sony or microsoft can make their EULA's as one sided and screwwy towards buyers as they want but when the EULA conflicts local or federal law the law should win every time.

Good for you UK guys, but in the US, . . . . . we be screwed.

 

[TheMailMan78]

As long as its a partial refund and not a full one this is a good law. The refund should be equal to the feature and to ONLY those systems that were affected.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

How the hell do they work out the value of the missing feature though,must be a mind fuck (pardon my french) working it out.

 

[KainXS]

sony fires back

We are sorry if users of Linux or other operating systems are disappointed by our decision to issue a firmware upgrade which when installed disables this operating system feature. We have made the decision to protect the integrity of the console and whilst mindful of the impact on Linux or other operating system users we nevertheless felt it would be in the best interests of the majority of users to pursue this course of action.

As you will be aware we have upgraded and enhanced functionality and features of the console by numerous firmware upgrades over time and this is a very rare instance where a feature will be disabled. Further enhancements are in the pipeline.

Users do have the choice whether to install the firmware upgrade and this is clearly explained to them at the time the firmware upgrade is made available for installation. Furthermore our terms and conditions clearly state that we have the right to revise the PS3's settings and features in order to prevent access to unauthorised or pirated content.

doesn't really matter what their terms say. . . . European Directive 1999/44/EC:A2 seems to override them in this case for some people.

 

[DaMulta]

I wonder if they would kill off pictures if a picture hack hit on the PS3 like there is on the PSP.

 

[Phxprovost]

while i hope that the EU starts smashing Sony with its might sue stick the chances of this happening are extremely slim. All Sony has to do is write piracy on a piece of paper and the EU will do what ever Sony wants

 

[MilkyWay]

Partial refund is calculated how?
Which law is this and on what terms did he complain?

Im not fully understanding the situation here.

 

[devguy]

whilst mindful of the impact on Linux or other operating system users we nevertheless felt it would be in the best interests of the majority of users to pursue this course of action.

??? This firmware update will have no effect on more than 95% of users. The remaining percentage suffer from the update. So how is it in the majority's best interest, if they are completely unaffected? By that logic, it is equally in the majority's best interest to leave it alone, as they still won't be affected.

 

[Triprift]

Indeed doesnt effect me in the slightest so honestly i dont care. But ofcourse you just say the word piracy these days you get panic within the industry lame.

 

[KainXS]

it really depends, it might not turn into anything big but the fact still remains, if you bought a ps3 and you can get some money for free, who would turn it down, i don't give a flyin f*ck about linux but if I could get some money for them taking it off I would try to get it.

 

[Triprift]

Wonder if anyone else would offer a refund if someone in another region complained. Not sure about here with are laws would be interesting to see.

 

[Easy Rhino]

again, if they find out that their bd-rom hardware can somehow be hacked to allow pirating of games then will they issue a firmware upgrade completely locking out the playing of blu-ray discs to "maintain the integrity of the console?" what a load of sh!t, sony. if you want to maintain the integrity of the console don't remove feature of it that i paid for!

 

[MilkyWay]

People are using partial refunds to scare Sony into re-enabling otherOS, it would cost tons more to refund the majority rather than just re-enable, i think its more about the fact the PS3 originally had all these cool features and then the decided to reduce those. Its not just otherOS they took away, they also took away the PS2 compatibility via "Emotion Engine" and later on partial compatibility via "Graphics Synthesizer", number of USB ports, card reader and Super Audio CD support removed.

If you dont update you cant get access to PSN ect. Also limits the future updates that may happen.

Sure a lot of people dont use it but it was advertised and marketed as such and now they are using bullshit lame-o excuses to retract features.

No PS2 compatibility was bullshit they only did it because they realised they could still sell PS2's.

The original 60gb model was supreme! It had Hardware-based PS2 emulation, Flash memory readers, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi 4 usb ports.

EDIT: The only thing that i think puts off pirates on the PS3 is the capacity, i mean look how much space it would take to store and download the capacity of a blu ray.